June 2012

Missing the point about “Why Farmers’ Markets Fail:” A lesson in radical green economics of yesterday and tomorrow

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The recent feature article “Why Do Some Farmers Markets Fail?” excerpted from an extension bulletin by Larry Lev, Garry Stevenson and Linda Brewer in the March/April 2008 issue of Farmers’ Markets Today seems to have left out some very important factors leading to the demise of certain farmers markets. The article does mention several factors that […]

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Dependent Markets vs. Independent Markets

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Consider for a moment the way farmers’ markets are organized. Not whether or how they are incorporated, not how many or what kind of members they have, but rather how and whether the membership is involved in the management of the business of being a farmers’ market. There seems to be two general categories: those […]

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A 2020 vision for Maine’s farmers’ markets

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The future reality of farmers’ markets can be determined to a great degree by today’s vision of what we’d like to see, and on what tools we have and can develop to bring that vision about. This article discusses our understanding of where we are today, and what choices we might make to bring about […]

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Promotional ideas for farmers’ markets

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This list is a compilation of promotional ideas for Farmers’ Markets that have been tried in Vermont and Maine from 1985 to 2000. We include some obvious ones such as “take out an ad in the paper or radio” but also list the more creative and customer-involving ideas we have heard of. If you or […]

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